The story
The paint factory was established in 1913 at 21st and Broadway in Kansas City by Charles R. Cook. (1884-1949) In 1927 it moved to North Kansas City, Missouri. By 1930, Cook had established factories in Kansas City, St. Louis, Ft. Worth, Houston, Cincinnati and Detroit.
In 1991 the company was split up with Sherwin-Williams, Valspar and in 1982 Davis Paints acquired a license agreement to manufacture certain Architectural Coatings in Kansas CIty. Some paints are still sold under this license agreement under the Cook brand by Davis Paint in Kansas City.
The most visible connection to North Kansas City is the Cook Composites & Polymers Co. which is a subsidiary of Total S.A. and was run for many years by D. Patrick Curran, grandson of C.R. Cook.
It claims to be largest producer of polyester gel coats in the world and that, along with its affiliates, it is the second-largest producer of coating resins in the world.
From Wikipedia’s article on Cook Paint and Varnish Company, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3